Falcons head coach Dan Quinn apologized to Eli Apple in a statement released to the Atlanta Journal-Constitution.

“I am really disappointed in the question that was asked by one of our coaches,” Quinn said in his statement. “I have spoken to the coach that interviewed Eli Apple and explained to him how inappropriate and unprofessional this was. I have reiterated this to the entire coaching staff and I want to apologize to Eli for this even coming up. This is not what the Atlanta Falcons are about and it is not how we are going to conduct ourselves.”

If you’ve followed the NFL Combine over the last few years, then you know that NFL Draft prospects are routinely asked some really strange questions. For example, one team has continuously asked players “Do you find your mother attractive?” during the interview process. But during an interview on Comcast SportsNet’s Breakfast on Broad today, former Ohio State player Eli Apple revealed that one question in particular stood out to him during a meeting with the Falcons last month. That question: “Do you like men?”

“I’ve been asked a lot of weird questions,” he said. “I don’t know if I could say [them] on TV. The Falcons coach, one of the coaches, was like, ’So do you like men?’ It was like the first thing he asked me. It was weird. I was just like, ‘No.’ He was like, ‘If you’re going to come to Atlanta, sometimes that’s just how it is around here. You’re going to have to get used to it.’ I guess he was joking, but they just ask most of these questions to see how you’re going to react.”

You can watch Apple’s segment on Breakfast on Broad in the clip here. Now that many players are opening up about the kinds of questions they’re being asked, it’ll be interesting to see if NFL teams continue to ask them. Some of them are just downright silly, but questions like this (and in case you don't remember, this is not the first time an NFL team has asked a prospect about his sexual orientation) don’t seem like they should have any place in what is essentially a job interview.